KL Rahul, who is currently leading the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) franchise in the ongoing IPL 2020 in the UAE, was recently named the vice-captain of the Indian ODI and T20I teams announced for the upcoming Australia tour, in absence of Rohit Sharma.

Rahul, who has donned the hat of KXIP captain for the first time in IPL, had previously led India in a T20I against New Zealand when then captain Rohit Sharma had hurt his hamstring while batting.

The Karnataka lad is the highest run-getter in the tournament so far and had hit the highest score in IPL by an Indian-132* against RCB a few weeks ago. In 12 games so far, Rahul has accumulated 595 runs with an average of 59.50 including a ton and five fifties.

AUS v IND 2020-21: KL Rahul "very lucky" to be recalled in the Test squad, says Sanjay Manjrekar

Talking about his new role as deputy to Virat Kohli in the Blue jersey, KL Rahul in an interview with the KXIP website, said that he was ready for the role.

"It is a very happy and proud moment. I was not expecting it, but I am very happy. I am ready for responsibility and challenge and I will try to do my best for my team as much as I can," he said.

"I am looking forward to the coming tour but the next 2-3 weeks before that are very important. The next 2-3 months will be very important. I am thinking about one day at a time, not much forward at the moment," he further added.

Meanwhile, KL Rahul readies himself to lead KXIP in a crucial match against RR on Friday, October 30, 2020.